At least seven people lost their lives while scores others sustained critical injuries following a major accident involving four vehicles and a motorcycle along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.
The accident on Sunday night, June 7, in the Salama area along the highway involved a truck, a bus full of passengers, two private vehicles, and a motorbike.
The crash left 27 critically injured, while others suffered minor injuries.
According to the Kenya Red Cross, the casualties were evacuated to the Sultan Hamud sub-county hospital for treatment following the crash.
An accident alert along the road
Photo
CANVA
“27 critically injured casualties were evacuated to Sultan Hamud Sub-County Hospital following a major road traffic incident involving a truck, a bus, two private vehicles and a motorcycle at Salama on the Mombasa–Nairobi Highway last night,” the Kenya Red Cross stated in a statement.
The humanitarian agency said it supported emergency response efforts alongside county emergency services, the National Police Service, and other partners who responded to the scene.
“Kenya Red Cross supported emergency response efforts alongside county emergency services, the National Police Service and other partners,” it added.
The accident caused traffic disruption along the usual busy highway as rescue teams worked through the night to assist victims in the wee hours of Monday, June 8.
Notably, the rescue mission concluded at around 4:50 a.m., nearly six hours after the accident occurred at about 11 p.m., highlighting the scale and complexity of the crash.
The Mombasa-Nairobi highway is one of Kenya’s busiest transport corridors and has, in recent times, witnessed several crashes that at times led to fatalities.
The crashes have renewed calls for the highway to be dualed, with the government also stepping in to construct an expressway along the 461-kilometer route.
So far, the project is in the advanced Public-Private Partnership (PPP) procurement and restructuring phase, following a series of regulatory reviews by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and the National Treasury.
The project aims to transform the heavily congested 461-kilometer A8 Mombasa-Nairobi highway into a modern, four-lane tolled dual-carriageway.
If constructed, the expressway will slash travel time between Nairobi and Mombasa from over 10 hours down to around 4.5 hours.
An artistic impression of the Nairobi-Mombasa expressway upon its completion.
Photo
KeNHA
